The Natural Climate Solutions Alliance’s packed agenda for London Climate Action Week kicked off on Monday 24th with a panel event on the role of high-integrity forest carbon credits in supporting corporate climate and nature strategies. The event, jointly organized with Emergent, and the UK government was hosted by Salesforce. An audience of over 100, representing corporates, governments, Indigenous Peoples and civil society heard a range of voices from across the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and nature conservation sectors highlight the role that high-integrity carbon credits have to play in driving investment to halt tropical deforestation.
Watch the panel or read our key take outs below:
Key Takeouts
1. We cannot tackle the twin climate and nature crises without halting and reversing tropical deforestation. One way to scale action with the urgency needed is via the VCM but, corporates must be brave.
Emergent CEO and Founder, Eron Bloomgarden opened the event highlighting how the world cannot hope to solve the twin climate and nature crises without halting and reversing tropical deforestation.
Mark Kenber of the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI), delivered an opening address. emphasizing the importance of a high-integrity VCM. "High-integrity VCMs are a crucial tool to scale-up private sector finance and accelerate global net zero". This sentiment was echoed throughout the event, highlighting the necessity for robust carbon markets to mobilize significant investment but panellists all urged corporates to be bold and take the first step towards investment.
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2. We need to invest in nature for our survival, but let's not wait until it's too late.
Giulia Carbone from the Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) Alliance underscored the urgency of forest protection, framing it as a matter of survival. "There is not even a question anymore about why we need to protect forests, we must do it to survive. We need everything to protect nature right now," Carbone reinforced the imperative to safeguard natural ecosystems as a foundational strategy in the fight against climate change but that we cannot wait for a perfect market until the private sector start investing.
3. Businesses should start early, work together and get involved in building a high-integrity carbon market.
Adele Cheli of GSK, one of over 25 corporations participating in the LEAF Coalition, highlighted the integration of climate and nature within GSK’s corporate strategy and shared the companies’ dual approach of reducing emissions and investing in carbon credits at the same time. "Climate and nature are integral to our business [...] We need to do everything we can to reduce our emissions and in parallel invest in carbon credits for nature, climate, and people,". She also stressed the importance of collective action, exemplified by initiatives like the LEAF Coalition, inviting corporates in the audience to join up and encouraging them to take the first step into the VCM, warning that it will be complicated but worthwhile, “from a business perspective, starting early makes sense.”
4. The VCM can be challenging, but it is worth it for corporates to be early movers and start building a balanced carbon credit portfolio
Tim Christophersen from Salesforce, another LEAF participant, provided a pragmatic perspective on the future of VCMs, acknowledging potential challenges but affirming their worth in the long run. "Will there be hiccups in the future of the VCM? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes,".
Christophersen highlighted the transformative potential if major corporations were to contribute to the VCM, suggesting that significant financial flows could be unlocked. "If 10% of those [2000 largest companies] in the world would compensate some of their emissions on the VCM, it could generate one trillion dollars by 2030" he noted.
He also stressed the need for companies to have a balanced portfolio of carbon credits, detailing how Salesforce invest in both nature and technology-based solutions. "There are no leading companies that cannot afford to invest in both nature and tech-based credits […] we have to do both at the same time with everything we have." Salesforce have recently co-founded nature-based removals initiatives Symbiosis and believe that further investment into multiple nature and tech-based removals is essential to achieve a high-integrity market and once again, that waiting to get involved is not an option.
5. JREDD programmes can help to de-risk corporate investment into forest protection.
Eron Bloomgarden of Emergent highlighted the strategic role of high-integrity forest carbon credits within jurisdictional REDD+ programmes. "High-integrity credits generated by Jurisdictional REDD+ programmes, like those available via the LEAF Coalition, will help to scale nature-based solutions with the urgency needed to tackle the climate crisis." He highlighted the necessity of involving all local stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and forest country governments, to drive large-scale change. Accentuating that the government level management and guarantees found in jurisdictional REDD+ programmes can help to reassure and de-risk corporate investment.
6. A Call to Action
The event underscored a collective resolve to enhance the integrity and scale of carbon markets, integrating nature-based solutions as part of a balanced corporate carbon credit portfolio. The discussions reinforced the critical need for collaborative efforts between private and public sector, substantial financial commitments, and comprehensive climate and nature strategies, supported by carbon credits, to address the climate and nature crisis effectively.
Join LEAF in New York
Emergent and the LEAF Coalition are planning a range of events for Climate Week NYC in September with the Natural Climate Solutions Alliance and other partners. Please fill out the form below if you would like to be kept informed of our plans.
Hear about our LEAF NYCW events schedule
Join Us
Visit www.leafcoalition.org to find out how your company can join the coalition of corporate climate leaders working to end tropical deforestation.